VW's Chattanooga Plant Voted In Favor of Unionizing

by Chris Teague

Published: April 22nd, 2024

vw s chattanooga plant voted in favor of unionizing

Fresh off a great year for the United Autoworkers Union (UAW), which saw wins against the Detroit Big Three automakers, union president Shawn Fain set his sights on several other automakers across the American South. Volkswagen, which operates a factory and offices in Chattanooga, TN, was first. Its efforts were successful. Despite the most recent vote being the third attempt to organize workers there, the UAW’s efforts were finally awarded with a strong vote to unionize.

Workers at the VW Chattanooga facility voted 2,628 to 985 to unionize, and while the vote still needs to be certified by the National Labor Relations Board, it represents a significant step forward for the UAW. The vote makes Chattanooga VW’s first unionized location in the United States since 1988 and likely resulted from the UAW’s historic wins for increased wages and benefits for workers at the domestic brands’ locations.

Volkswagen thanked workers for voting and President Joe Biden celebrated the decision, saying, “Together, these union wins have helped raise wages and demonstrate once again that the middle-class built America and that unions are still building and expanding the middle class for all workers.” The NLRB allows five days for either side to challenge the vote, and if there are no challenges, it will certify the results.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee had fought against unionizing, saying that the state had fought to bring good jobs to the area. His statement noted that unions could drive jobs out of Tennessee and pointed to the layoffs initiated by all existing UAW automakers.

[Image: VW]

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Chris Teague

Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.

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2 of 57 comments

Mike on Apr 23, 2024

Wasnt even a 60/40 vote. Thats really i teresting.....

1 Reply
Bike on May 12, 2024

Rather have a union negotiating my pay rises with inflation at the moment.

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